Bulk grain door support frame



1965 w. P. SENTER ETAL 3,201,830

BULK GRAIN DOOR SUPPORT FRAME Filed April 15, 1963 FIG-l l9 JNVENTOR.

Willis P. Senter BY Robermo L) FIG-3 I FL 7. 7 U1 N E v a N y Kim H min 3,201,830 Patented Aug. 24, 1965 ice United States Patent Ofi BULK GRAIN DOOR SUPPORT FRAME Wiilis Pembrook Senter, Mescow, Idaho, and Robert 0. Engard, 618 ,W. 14th, Spokane, Wash.

Filed Apr. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 275,157

' 3 Claims; (Cl. 20'-27) The present invention is an improvement in bulk grain hauling cars and more particularly in a grain door support frame, in combination with a bulk grain car and said frame per se.

It is customary to haul bulk grains, such as wheat, in box-type cars which has side walls with door openings and slidingdoors on the outer surfaces for closing the openings. These doors, however, are insufficient to retain the bulk grain, since, if the grain were piled against the doors it would be extremely difiicult, if not impossible, to open the doors and thus remove the grain from the cars. It is customary therefore to apply to the inner surface of the side Walls of a bulk grain box-car, grain doors made from two or three plys of one-inch lumber and which extend across the door openings. Presumably, these grain doors will be tight enough to prevent the flow of bulk grain through or between the grain doors where it can apply pressure to the sliding door or escape through openings and be lost. Not infrequently, it will be found after the car of bulk grain has arrived at its destination, that some of the boards will have burst or bowed sufficiently to permit escape of grain and the attendant undesirable results aforesaid. There has also proven to be a considerable monetary loss in grain doors of the type heretofore employed, due to loss, theft, and breakage.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a grain door support frame which will facilitate the use of less expensive grain doors and thus minimize the economic loss probability.

A further object of the present invention lies in the provision of a grain door support frame which is secured to a bulk grain hauling car for hinging movement into and out of a door opening, thus one that is momentarily ready for use and sufiiciently strong to support the expansion or bursting pressures entailed in moving bulk grain, thus permitting the use of less expensive grain doors and thereby materially reducing not only the cost of fixing the cars for hauling bulk grain but also the loss of which may be experienced by virtually eliminating breakage.

In the accompanying drawings, we have disclosed a preferred form of our present invention, but it should be understood that the drawings are exemplifying only and are not intended to be construed as limitations except and insofar as said limitations are specifically recited in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, like numerals are employed to designate like parts, and

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a bulk grain hauling car including the grain door support frame of the present invention and having parts broken away for convenience of illustration;

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 2-2 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken laterally through a car and showing the two opposed grain door support frames releasably secured in their withdrawn or folded position; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the cooperation of a stop and keeper of the said frame.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, the reference numeral indicates a common and well-known bulk grain hauling box-car which has laterally spaced side walls 1111 and end walls, one of which is shown at 12; Conventionally, each of the side walls 1111 is provided with a door opening 13, which is defined'at its top by a horizontal header14, at its sides by door posts 15-15, and usually at the bottom by the door sill 16. The walls 1111 are possessed of inner and outerfaces 17 and 18 as is conventional.

A door support rail 19 extends across the top of the door opening 13 on the outer face 18 and a sliding door 20 is provided for movement into and out of covering relation to the door opening 13.

In FIGURE 2 of the drawing we have shown a grain door 21 which has its ends overlying the marginal edge portions of the inner face 17 and extends across the opening 13 as is common and well known, more than one grain door 21 may be used as necessary-. Conventionally these, with perhaps an amount of construction paper to prevent grain passing through very small apertures, are all that are provided to retain movements of bulk grain within the car 10. p i

Our invention permits the use of'less expensive grain doors 21 since they dojnot require as much inherent strength as conventional grain doors. This is accomplished by supplying support to the grain doors by a support frame indicated in its entirety by the numeral 22.

The grain door support frame comprises a grill work 23 which includes a pair of vertical bars 24-24 disposed to divide the opening 13 laterally into three substantially equalparts. At their upper ends, the bars 2424 are provided with hinges-ZS-ZS which are. secured to the header 14 between the inner and outer faces 17 and 18 of the wall 1111. of these hinges, 2525, the grain door support frame is supported for hinging movement between a horizontal plane substantially coincident to the headers 14 and the vertical plane substantially coincident to its door opening 13.

Additionally, the grill work includes a pair of vertically spaced horizontally extending bars 26--26 which are welded or otherwise secured rigidly to the vertical bars 24-24 and preferably are disposed one at substantially the vertical mid-point of bars 2424 and the other at a selected point substantially or slightly below a point midway between the upper bar 26 and the floor sill 16.

Above the upper bar 26, we provide a pair of spaced laterally extending bars 27 which define together with portions of the bars 24, a spout aperture 28 which is adapted to receive the conventional and well-known bulk grain spout for loading the box car with bulk grain.

The several bars 24-2647 constitute the grill work 23 which is substantially planar and is hinged at the top by means of hinges 25 for the aforesaid tilting movements.

At the ends of the bars 26 we provide hook-shaped stops 29. These cooperate and coact with vertically extending keepers 30-30 which are made from bar stock or strap secured to the door post 15 as by lag screws 31.

It will be noted particularly in FIGURE 4 of the drawing that the stops 29 coact with the straps 30 to prevent outward swinging movement of the grill work 23 beyond a vertical plane disposed entirely within the door opening 13. Preferably, the door posts are rabbeted at 32 to provide space for the stops 29, thus eliminating unnecessary constriction of the door opening 13 by extending the keepers 30 thereinto.

It will be noted that when the grill work 23 is disposed within the door opening 13, the vertical bars 24 are disposed to support the grain doors 21 exactly in the plane of the inner face 17, as seen particularly in FIGURE 2. When a grill work 23 is to be removed from its openings 13 and after the removal of the grain door 21, it is hinged to the horizontal positions as seen in FIGURE 3 and is It will thus be seen that by means 7 supported by one of the hooks 33-33 secured in the ceiling 34of the bulk grain car-'10.

Having thus described our invention, we desire to secure by letters Patent of the United States the following: 1. Anrimproved bulkgrain hauling car having a side wall withiadoonopening therein, comprising:

Y a support frame having a pair of spaced vertical bars and plural vertically spaced horizontal bars interconnected to form a grill-work of a size and shape to fit entirely within said opening; "means releasablysecuring the ends of said horizontal bars against movement outwardly of said car; a means supporting said grill-work for inward tilting movements from a vertical plane substantially coin- F dcnt to, said opening to a horizontal plane sub- A .stantially coincident to the top;of said opening; and a grain door removably fixed within the car across said door opening and supported by said frame against outward pressures. l 2, An improved bulk grain hauling c ar having a side wall with a door opening therein, comprising:

a support frame removably fixedentirely within said door opening; 7 r l said frame havingja pair of vertical bars, disposed to divide the opening laterally into three substantially v: equal parts; v spaced horizontal bars releasably fixed on the side wall at'the lateral edges of said opening outwardly of said verticalbars for resisting deflection of said vertical substantially coincident to said top edge and a vertical plane substantially coincident to said door openings;

and a a flexible grain door removably fixed within said body and frames across said door opening and supported by said frame against outward pressures.

3. In a bulk grain hauling car having:

a box-like body with openings in selected walls thereof and sliding door closures therefor;

each said opening being defined by a header and spaced door posts;

a grain door support frame associated with each said opening and comprising: I

a relatively lightweight and strong grill-Work supported at the top of its respective opening for inward tilting movements between a horizontal plane substantially coincident to the header and a vertical plane coincident to said door opening; 7

said frame, when in said vertical position being disposed entirely within said door opening;

means anchoring said frame against tilting movement outwardly of said door opening; and

a grain door secured within said body and frames across said door openings, whereby expansion pressures against said grain door are retained by said frame.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN IMPROVED BULK GRAIN HAULING CAR HAVING A SIDE WALL WITH A DOOR OPENING THEREIN, COMPRISING: A SUPPORT FRAME HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED VERTICAL BARS AND PLURAL VERTICALLY SPACED HORIZONTAL BARS INTERCONNEFTED TO FORM A GRILL-WORK OF A SIZE AND SHAPE TO FIT ENTIRELY WITHIN SAID OPENING; MEANS RELEASABLY SECURING THE ENDS OF SAID HORIZONTAL BARS AGAINST MOVEMENT OUTWARDLY OF SAID CAR; MEANS SUPPORTING SAID GRILL-WORK FOR INWARD TILTING MOVEMENTS FROM A VERTICALK PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY COIN CIDENT TO SAID OPENING TO A HORIZONTAL PLANE SUB- 